Orioles Card "O" the Day

An intersection of two of my passions: baseball cards and the Baltimore Orioles. Updated daily?

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Hoyt Wilhelm, 2007 Topps Heritage 1958 Flashbacks #FB10

Why? Why? Sweet monkey on a unicycle, why? Hoyt Wilhelm pitched for the Orioles for four-plus seasons. During that time, Topps issued a few cards picturing him in an O's uniform. So it just stands to reason that they would have ample photos in the Topps Vault from which to choose. Instead, they've ostensibly:

-Selected a picture of Hoyt in a Giants uniform. I say Giants rather than White Sox or Braves or some such, because he doesn't appear to be old as hell here.

-Photoshopped him into Orioles duds.

-Photoshopped him into modern-day Orioles duds, rather than the period-appropriate threads.

-Done so poorly. The O's didn't have placket piping on their jerseys in 2006 or 2007, and if they had, it wouldn't have been applied by someone on a caffeine bender. What IS that?

-As a final indignity, they've stayed with #49 for Wilhelm, which was what he wore in New York. In Baltimore, he was #15.

Come on, Topps. Take some pride in your work.

5 comments:

Commishbob said...

To say nothing of the modern cap 'bird' and the crappy card design in general. I like the Heritage cards usually (what few cards I purchase are Heritage) but this one is just junk.

Ryan H said...

I'm really growing tired of Topps photoshopping their cards. I think it is just plain lazy on their part especially with this particular card. They don't seem to take pride in their work or do the correct research. Plus it just looks cheesy sometimes. The other day I got some new 2010's from Target and I got a card of Mark Teahen. It was an action shot of him sliding into home, but he was in a White Sox jersey. Most everybody knows he played with KC last year. Since they are the exclusive trading card of MLB, they need to get their crap straight and quit with the photoshopping. Rant over.

FreeTheBirds said...

Wow, what a train wreck of a card.

Jim said...

Wow! Never realized how bad this card truly was.

And thank you for the phrase "sweet monkey on a unicycle," which has now officially entered my lexicon.

Kevin said...

Bob - Another sloppy example is a Heritage flashback card from 2006 (I think). It's supposed to feature a young Brooks Robinson (as the card talks about his 1957 season), but the photo is clearly from the end of his career: tri-colored hat, pullover jersey, elastic waistband, etc. Just lazy.

Ryan - I once saw a 2008 Stadium Club card of Manny Ramirez that was clearly taken in Fenway when he was with Boston. But they'd Photoshopped him into a Dodger uniform, turned the green backstop blue, and inexplicably removed the catcher and umpire...but they kept the "Thirty Three" billboard behind home plate (which is local to Boston from what I understand) and forgot to Photoshop out one of the ump's legs.

FTB - That sums it up nicely.

Jim - Thanks! I considered "Sweet Georgia Brown", but I hoped that something original might resonate more.